Gentius

Gentius (Ancient Greek: Γένθιος, Génthios; fl. 181–168 BC) was an Illyrian king who belonged to the Labeatan dynasty. He ruled in 181–168 BC, being the last attested Illyrian king. He was the son of Pleuratus III, a king who kept positive relations with Rome. The capital city of the Illyrian kingdom under Gentius was Scodra, now Shkodër, Albania.

In 180 BC, during his early reign, the Dalmatae and Daorsi declared themselves independent from his rule and the city of Rhizon abandoned him prior to his defeat, receiving immunity from the Romans. He married Etuta, the daughter of the Dardanian king Monunius II.

In 171 BC, Gentius was allied with the Romans against the Macedonians, but in 169 BC he changed sides and allied himself with Perseus of Macedon. The southernmost city of the Illyrian kingdom was Lissus (now Lezhë, Albania), a situation established since the First Illyrian War. He arrested two Roman legati, accusing them of not coming as emissaries but as spies. Gentius destroyed the cities of Apollonia and Epidamnos (Roman Dyrrachium, now Durrës, Albania), which were allied with Rome. In 168 BC, he was defeated at Scodra by a Roman force under L. Anicius Gallus, in only twenty or thirty days, and in 167 brought to Rome as a captive to participate in Gallus's triumph, after which he was interned in Iguvium. The date of his death is unknown. After his defeat, the Romans split the region into three administrative divisions, called meris. The extent of the first meris is not known, while the second was Labeates, and the third was Acruvium, Rhizon, Olcinium and their environs.

The Illyrian name Gentius appears to derive from PIE *ǵenh₁- "to beget", cognate to Latin gens, gentis "kin, clan, race". It must reflect the reconstructed noun *gent(i)yos, designating the king as the head of his kin, like the Proto-Germanic *kun-ing-az. It could very likely be the source of the Albanian name Gjin, which if this theory is correct, mutated and got christianized.

By 181 BC the loyal Pleuratus had been succeeded by his son Gentius. During his reign relations with the Ardiaean state and Rome started to dwindle. The coast and hinterland south of the Drin remained under Roman control since the First Illyrian Wars against Teuta. Gentius moved to increase power over kindred peoples living to the north and west. Among the islands the Greek city of Issa (now Vis, Croatia) had retained some form of independence under Roman protection but Pharos (now Hvar, Croatia) remained an Illyrian possession. On the mainland the Delmatae and the Daorsi were at one time subjects, but the former defected soon after the accession of Gentius. Illyrian strength lay in the navy and ships and it was their interference with Adriatic shipping which once more aroused Roman interest in the area. In 180 BC a Roman praetor responsible for coastal protection arrived in Brudisium with some ships of Gentius said to have been caught in the act of piracy. An embassy to Illyria failed to locate the king; but the praetor discovered that Romans were held for ransom at Korčula. No outcome of the affair is reported and it may well be that the Senate accepted a claim by Gentius' envoys that the charges were false. Ten years later, when Rome was gripped with war-fever against Perseus of Macedon, Issa accused Gentius of plotting war with the king and now the Illyrian envoys were denied a hearing before the Senate. Instead the Romans seized 54 Illyrian lembi at anchor in the harbour of Epidamnos. On the eve of war a Roman senator was sent to Illyria to remind Gentius of his formal friendship with the Roman Republic.

In 169 BC Gentius arranged the murder of his brother Plator killed because his plan to marry Etuta, daughter of the Dardanian king Monunius II, would have made him too powerful. Gentius then married Plator's fiancée for himself, securing the alliance of the powerful Dardani.

Perseus of Macedon having recaptured several Roman outposts in Roman occupied Illyria controlled the route leading west to the Ardiaean state. At this point Perseus sent his first embassy to Gentius, consisting of the Illyrian exile Pleuratus and the Macedonian Adaeus and Beroea. They found Gentius at Lissos and informed him of Perseus' successes against the Romans and Dardani and the recent victory over the Penestae. The Illyrians replied that he lacked not the will to fight the Romans but the money. No promises were made on this point either by this embassy or another sent from Stuberra shortly afterwards. Perseus continued his efforts to involve Gentius in the war, preferably it was said, at no cost to his treasury. The Illyrian exile Plearatus raised 1,000 infantry and 200 cavalry from the Penestae. The Roman invasion of Macedonia in 168 BC forced the king to promise a subsidy to Gentius, whose ships might be employed to attack the Romans. A sum of 300 talents was mentioned and Perseus sent his companion Pantauchus to make the arrangements. In the city of Meteon (now Medun, Montenegro) hostages were agreed and Gentius accepted the oath of the king. He sent Olympio with a delegation to Perseus to collect the money, and the treaty was concluded with some ceremony at Dium on the Thermaic Gulf. A formal parade of the Macedonian cavalry was held which may have impressed the Illyrians and the cavalry may have represented the Macedonians in the ratification of the treaty.

The 300 talents were counted out of the royal treasure at Pella and the Illyrians were permitted to mark it with their own stamp. An advance of ten talents was forwarded to Gentius and when this was passed over by Pantauchus the king was urged to commence hostilities against the Romans. When Gentius imprisoned two Roman envoys sent by Appius Claudius at Lychnidus, Perseus recalled the rest of the subsidy in belief that Gentius was now his ally, come what may.